Fun_People Archive
14 Apr
Parse this! -- the answer (READ ME LAST)

Date: Thu, 14 Apr 94 16:43:41 PDT
To: Fun_People
Subject: Parse this!  -- the answer (READ ME LAST)

[The question last time was whether you could parse the following sentence

        Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
-psl]

Here's the blow-by-buffa-blow:

    American bison are called buffalo.  A kind of bison that comes from
    Buffalo, New York, could be called a Buffalo buffalo.  Recall that there
    is a verb "to buffalo" that means "to overwhelm, to intimidate."
    Imagine that New York State bison intimidate one another:  (The) Buffalo
    buffalo (that) Buffalo buffalo (often) buffalo (in turn) buffalo (other)
    Buffalo buffalo.

From: a book entitled _The_Language_Instinct_ by Steven Pinker.

© 1994 Peter Langston